Bend Blogs » April 22, 2009

I hope that you were able to watch Oprah today (4-22-09).  I know, I know, normal people work and have lives.  I never have time for t.v. during the day anymore, but today was Earth Day.  I took part in my 2nd annual Oprah Earth Day program.  Last year was good, Julia Roberts was on [...]

Linda and I recently returned from three nights in Vegas. Joining us were Attorneys Todd, Erika, and Lauri (because we were going to need plenty of legal advice before the trip was over).

We had a great time. Linda had a successful shopping weekend, and I gambled about five hours a day while there. We also spent a lot of time by the pool enjoying the 80-degree weather. I wanted to take it a little easier this trip by not staying up all night on the first evening like I always do, and I (sort of) succeeded -- I actually went to bed at 4 am on Friday morning, the earliest I've ever hit the rack on the first night in Vegas.

Our suite had a kitchen, so we loaded up with booze, mixer, and food and ended up eating several meals in the room and enjoying many refills of Todd's signature drink: vodka with cranberry juice and margarita mix. But we did go out for a great meal at Bar Charlie located inside The Palazzo. Nice choice there, Todd.

I was curious to see if Vegas was showing any outward signs of the recession, and we noticed a few things. Some of the down escalators were turned off in an apparent attempt to save on the electric bill. We also noticed that some casinos didn't have as many tables opened as they normally would. On Thursday night, Todd, Erika, and I wanted to play blackjack together at Treasure Island, but all the active tables were full and we couldn't find any empty tables with ready-to-go dealers.

We eventually found a table at The Mirage, where Erika and I immediately went on a tear. I was way up for awhile, but then lost most of my winnings and walked away with only about $50 in profit. I played Blackjack a couple more times on the trip, but enjoyed no further success.

One thing struck me while I was playing that game -- I didn't see any tables that paid 3-2 on blackjacks. Now I haven't played a lot of twenty-one over the years, but I'm pretty sure 3-2 is the traditional payout. Every table we played, however, only paid 6-5 for a blackjack. Another sign of the times, perhaps.

But the thing I noticed most of all as far as the recession is concerned was the cheap craps. Last year, Casino Royale had three dollar craps tables on Thursday evening only, then $5 tables on Friday through Sunday. But this year, it had three dollar craps tables all weekend long, so I spent most of my gambling time there.

Todd and I played craps for awhile at about 3 am on Friday morning. I had just ran out of chips -- and was down $100 -- when he showed up at the table, so I bought in for another $60. I ended up doubling my $60 before we called it quits, which meant I only lost about $40 for the overall session. Todd also won money in what I'm pretty sure was his first winning craps session ever.

I couldn't really get much else going, though. On Friday afternoon, a lady next to me went on a nice long roll which netted me around $300, but I was already down about $100 for that session when her roll started. The dice went fairly cold after that, but I still only lost about $200 for the weekend. Erika had a good night on Thursday evening/Friday morning, winning about $250 playing blackjack.

I didn't play any hold 'em, which was odd because I recently started playing poker again in part to get ready for this trip. But I've played a lot of cards here at home recently, and I never get to play craps, so the $3 craps tables left me with no real interest in playing poker on this particular trip. Todd and Erika didn't play any hold 'em either. Maybe next time.

Hey, guess what??? Worms love artichokes! Rotten ones and eaten artichoke skins (I think that's what they are)
They were all over them this afternoon! Yipee! cause I love them toooooo!wonderworman.blogspot.com

A word.
A doorway.
An absence.
It's an ending on one side,
an arrival home on the other.
A completion of life's circle.
Life coming from somewhere else
and life returning after sojourning here.

Death!
Some people fear it.
Others welcome it.
Many fight it.
Some make it.
Most won't talk about it,
as if denial will hold it at bay.
Not to take their loved ones.
Others, but never me, or mine.

Death!
Gift! Curse! Blessing! Sorrow!
In time. To soon. Painful. Peaceful.
It is the pendulum
that swings on us all.
How will we meet this
common human experience?
Will we resist the inevitable, or embrace it,
as we would the last chapter of a well loved book?

Death!
The best answer to it...
Is to live life well.
Be honest, open, helpful, giving,
supportive of friend and family, harming no one.
Smiling often. Ease of laughter.
In all things, calling your truest Self
into action every morning.
Always believing
death is not only an end,

but also a new beginning.
A new birth.

(c) 5.26.01

Jon & Pami were a lot of fun to photograph, mostly because they're becoming good friends of mine. Together they make quite a couple! Also, Chris was there with the M Box taking some shots!

The wedding is in July and I can't wait to be there for the Big Day! Congrats Jon and Pami!

Says it all to me. Old line Music Biz is DEAD. As a nine inch nail! more about " Video Interview with NIN About Busin…", posted with vodpod Posted in Trading

Say this slowly: the Bush administration wanted to use 9/11 as a pretext to invade Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, and then tortured people to make them confess to that nonexistent link. The word for this is evil. There are bloodstains on our collective fingers. Kill all the christians. [...]

Where’s the Beef, Ron keeps asking, when will he get a 2nd Rep to join him in his solo plight? Just trying to spread the work of the rational man in America. more about "Ron Paul Questions Hillary Clinton on…", posted with vodpod Posted in Trading [...]

It's spring, requiring a short walk to the nearby goat farm. 

On the farm, plump-bellied milk goats are delivering babies nearly every day this time of year. 

And along with the playful "kids," we found a grunty little piglet. She could easily take the prize in a 'Wilbur' look alike contest. She stole all our hearts!

It seems the pulse of the life is palpable everywhere this time of year. And for that I'm grateful and happy to wish Earth a happy Earth Day.

I finally got past the "Mother May I" approach I felt I had to take (chain of command, regulations and all that) in the military and "just did it" to the web site for our Kiwanis Club here in Sisters. Granted, I had a lot of help from the software (iWeb), but I feel pretty proud about how things came out. Sorta like this blog, you can plug in photo slideshows, videos, and all kinds of cool widgets that are out there to be had.

Take a look at: http://www.sisterskiwanis.org

You'll probably run across pictures of a few people you recognize.

Recent articles I found about bamboo fiber processing.

I was doing some research on bamboo harvesting and processing. I”m working on some new pages for our web site www.FBonMe.com . You can find bamboo fiber underwear on our site made by C-in2, JM and Justus Boyz. These are the link to those articles, they are very informative.

Ezine: How bamboo fiber is created. [ezinearticles.com]         

Quazen: Which is better, bamboo or cotton? [www.quazen.com]

Bamboosa: Bamboo fiber processing. [www.bamboosa.com]

We hope you enjoy these articles. Paul & Ron

Homegrown Solutions

Here's a short video Josh put together of us flying my new stunt kite :) Enjoy!

The Atlantic notes polling data suggesting the Republican Party is less popular among Americans than Venezuela and China.

Google Labs is a great tool - and Google Trends is even better! I was doing a website audit for a potential client and found Google Trends to be a very useful tool for such a project. I dove a little deeper and started to do some of my own research, just to get some insight into the numbers of social media. You can do the same with your company and its competitors; just use a comma to separate the keywords.

The above image demonstrates the trends and correlations between MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and twitter.

-Jacq

Deschutes Brewery produces two beers that can vie for the title of “spring seasonal”: Buzzsaw Brown and Cinder Cone Red. Buzzsaw Brown, however, shows up from January to March so to my mind it isn’t the spring beer (though it’s not really a “late winter beer” either). No, Cinder Cone Red has that distinction.

Located on the northern slope of Mt. Bachelor, the Cinder Cone was also known as “Red Hill” due to its reddish color that is revealed as the seasons change, the weather warms and the snow melts. It’s spring. Time to get outside.

At 5.4% alcohol by volume, Cinder Cone is eminently drinkable. You can read my review of last year’s version, where I notice that entirely by coincidence, I use the word “interplay” in the “Taste” portion of my notes both times.

Appearance: A nice clear reddish-amber-brown color with a thick, clotted-cream-white head. Good lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Clean, mild citrus, spicy. A touch roasty over sweet malts.

Taste: Interplay of toasty biscuit with slightly roasted grains followed by crisp grassy hop bitterness that’s spicy and herbal. Malty and delicious.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium-bodied with a light presence that’s crisp and refreshing. Pleasant lingering hop bitterness at the back of the tongue.

Overall: Always a classic, one of my favorite Deschutes seasonals. Excellent and expertly brewed.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores a grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.61 out of 5 and is in their 90th percentile.

What am I good at? I've been pondering this question for days as I start feeling the onset of panic over no money coming in. My design clients have all but deserted me, and I need to figure out what to do. At least my husband still has a job, but the pittance he gets isn't enough to pay all the bills.

Unfortunately, I have a skill set that's not in demand right now. I specialize in creative communication, especially the visual sort, as in advertising and publication design. I've been at it for 30 years, so I have a solid foundation of experience. But if no one needs it, no one needs my expertise.

I've designed a few websites in the past, but it's not something I like to do, and I never had the time to hone that particular craft. I have the time now, so maybe I'll explore it more. When it comes to the graphics and photoshop end of it, I'm an expert, but it's the interactive stuff that holds me back. I never learned the programming end of it.

I opened a new WordPress blog and I'm going to use that to create my online portfolio. If I had the money to pay for web hosting, I'd create a design website through WordPress, but the site I have for my writing is all I can afford. This new one will be for my visual art. Now it's just a matter of buckling down to get it done. I'm also going to create a custom background for my twitter profile.

I've been exploring book trailer production for the past couple of years, but there again I never had the time before to practice creating them. So I plan to work on a couple of trailers for my own books and see where it takes me. I've been wanting to experiment with iMovie on my new and bigger Mac, and now I have the chance. I spent this morning gathering images for Mystic Taxi and downloaded the perfect music score. I hope it's something I can do well, and if I can, it's a service I can offer other authors.

It would be great if my books sold, because then I could focus more on my writing to augment my other creative endeavors. I'll slog along with what I can for now and hope for the best. The economy has to turn around at some point, doesn't it?

Happy Earth Day! I hope you all feel like this is your day!  I sure do. I know it is Wednesday and it is still the middle of the work week, but be sure to do something great today for our planet.  Check with your city’s website and see what is going on this weekend in honor [...]

"Yes we are -- shopping locally." Local campaign mentioned in the Bulletin.

Hey, what's to argue?

First the good news, and then the not so great news.

I, personally, try to shop locally. But I'm not much of a consumer, so I'm not sure I'm a big help. (Makes me wonder if the same people who are socially conscious enough to shop locally, are also the same people who are socially conscious enough not to over-consume? Hmmmm.....probably not. People love to shop.)

I've always thought of shopping locally as a small local tax. It's relatively painless, that quarter or fifty cents you spent extra to buy aspirin from a local druggist instead of Wal-mart, doesn't seem like it could kill anyone.

When it starts getting to half-price, though, it's pretty hard to argue that one should spend twice as much...

Except, of course, I would maintain that if you got it for half, there is a hidden cost somewhere.

Just talking to my UPS driver about this very thing. He bought a couple of doodad's he needed for his Direct T.V. for 25.00 each from them, after checking around town and finding that they coast 150.00 everywhere else.

"Are you a subscriber to Direct T.V,?" I asked. "How much does it cost per month? See, they want you to buy those doodads so that you'll continue to buy their service and they make x amount per month by having hooked you in."

That's not to say it isn't a good deal, and you would be crazy not to take it. Just that there is always an explanation, always a hidden cost somewhere.

I won't go into the political ramifications of using cheap foreign labor, or paying your American workers as little as possible (benefits? What's that?) Or that the materials going into the 'cheap' stuff may not be quite as good as it should be. Or...well, you could go on and on...

But I always say, if you dig dirt out of one end of the field, it doesn't disappear, but it piles up somewhere else.

Over the last few weeks, I've gotten an extraordinary number of calls and visits from people trying to sell their baseball card collections. I usually just say, No. I usually point them to E-Bay. If they insist, I usually say, "If you find anyone who's buying, let me know...."

End of conversation.

What I don't say is -- how did you expect to be giving your money to the big chain stores for the last 15 years of so, and then expect to come to little old me and get cash?

With what? Where's the money? It isn't in my pocket.

Nothing is for free. You don't get something for nothing. You get what you pay for.

I'd bet that there are a million such examples of hidden costs, disappearing service, shrinking selection, and lousy convenience.

I'd also have to say, that being able to buy more cheaper stuff doesn't necessarily add to your lifestyle. Two pieces of crap instead of one, just means you have twice as much crap.

Imagine if you will a town where everyone bought locally. Instead of Walmart's (smaller) cents on the dollar sticking around, you'd have about 40% of it sticking around. Being spent locally, enriching local merchants, who can refurbish their storefronts, higher more employees or give them bigger paychecks and benefits, who could buy more and different product, maybe even eventually lowering their prices because of their volume.

Imagine.

So here's the not so great news. Such a thing happening is extremely unlikely, to say the least.

If you have to explain why it's in their long-term best interest, that they really are going to end up getting more service and quality product by buying locally, it's not going to work.

One, they won't believe you.

Two, they won't listen to the end of your explanation.

Three, they aren't paying attention. They want what they want when they want at the price they want.

Cheap is cheap. Explanations are blah, blah, blah.

I think people often mean well.

But again imagine that you are an independent bookstore, and Barnes and Nobles is coming to town. What are you going to do about that freight train bearing down on you?

Usual answers are, service, service, hometown feel, service, incentives, convenience, service, quick and free ordering, and so on.

Great. Let's say you maintain 80% of your customer base, despite B & N being 20 times bigger, selling 20 times the number of books, having a large percentage with huge discounts, and having exclusives and mysteriously always getting the books sooner, and always having it in stock when it's sold out at the distributor and so on.

Let's say, though, that you succeed in keeping 80% of your customers. That would have to be considered a huge success.

But you STILL took a 20% hit on your earnings.

How many of you can handle a 20% cut on your earnings?

(I have to say, though, that 80% is wildly optimistic....)

I don't think "Shop locally" campaigns are very effective, but they can't hurt. Maybe you can push that loyalty level to 85% instead, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Anything that might get people thinking about consequences and ramifications may be a good thing.

But if you are a local store, make your peace with the big boys, because pleading with your customers probably won't work too well. Find a way to accommodate the disappearing customers; make them come back because you got something they want, and they're willing to pay for it.









But, yeah, whenever possible, shop locally.

My kids are beginning to ask more and more so I went to my Dr. then the internet to compare their official versions. more about " How to make a baby", posted with vodpod Posted in Trading

Last week I spent some time photographing Michelle and Seth’s engagement pictures on a beautiful morning at Smith Rock, Terrebonne, Oregon. Seth and Michelle have been long time friends who have fallen head over heels for each other. They both love being in the outdoors sharing in adventures like rock climbing. Knowing that, we thought Smith Rock would be a perfect spot for their pictures. Here are a couple from our time together!

Rightwingoverse. Personal observation: have you ever notice how the taxed to death teabaggers are the ones to complain the loudest that freedom isn’t free?

This weekend come Ski and Snowboard to support the Division Street Skatepark Project (DSSP).   This Oregon Cup event will be a head to head Jib Off and Ollie comp.  Two box features will be set up, one competitor will move on while the other is eliminated, bracket style.  The entry fee is $5.00,  all proceeds from the Oregon Cup will support the DSSP.   The DSSP is a grassroots community project working to build one of the best skateparks in Oregon, right here in Bend.  Check out their website HERE for details.   Click HERE  for more info about the event.  

A brief interlude in Portland, the blow-out Trail Blazers game, sushi and shopping, then to Salem for the Oregon Tourism Conference, then 24 hours of food poisoning, then sleep-driving back to Bend. You really don't want to hear about it. I'll post about something fun tonight.

I've always wanted to plant lemon grass. So a friend gave me some "vitamin" tablets which can promote root growth. Now the little guys are growing roots and shooting out new leaves. Yeah! :)

It's Spring, time to take care of my plants again. The blueberry plant is budding. The strawberry, umm surviving I think. The cherry tree will probably give me ONE cherry like last year, then the bird will get it before I do. The chamomiles, oh that will grow wild as usual. And when I'm out of town, the plants will probably die due to lack of water (no sprinkle system around where I plant them, need a dumb human being to carry piles of water to water them every morning, oh ain't I clever?!).

--

As you know I'm cheap.

When I first took the aerobic class, I wore my one and only pair of old and dirty track shoes and proudly walked on the shinny parquet floor, leaving a tiny trace of dusty prints at the back of the class where I was. Everyone else had clean shoes. I noticed that, but was too cheap to get myself another pair of shoes.

Then last week a group of us were sitting on the floor waiting for the class to start. A fellow student took out a piece of paper and started wiping the bottom of her shoes, which was sparkling clean. How could that be?! I looked at mine, oh no, I really shouldn't have looked!

So I finally went to the factory outlet and got myself a pair of new shoes! But I will still wear my old pair for another few years, just to see how long they can last before breaking down into bits! I'm cheap, what can I say? :o

--

After hearing much about Twitter, I joined! Yes I'm on Twitter now, you can twitter twitter twitter me. My Twitter name is NoCuteName, that's because I can't think of any creative/ cute/ easy to remember AND available username!

So the very lame name is now my name. Bummer!

Creation is now available from Master Books. I will also have copies to sell (special rate $11 + postage), and the Haidles of Seed Faith Books have them to sell. This is a different version of the CD format we did last year.


Mary A. Hake
OCW President
www.oregonchristianwritersorg

Play Outdoors is proud to feature guest author Bethe Almeras! The call to “Go play outside!” has quieted over the years. The past two-decades have brought a dramatic 50% decrease in the amount of time American kids are spending outdoors...

This is day 2 for me trying to kick a flu bug, so I'm taking it easy with a simple post today about one of our favorite books, How Are You Peeling:


I ordered a copy for myself after coming across it in the waiting room at my doctor's office. And this was when I was in college -- before I even had kids.


Fruits and vegetables are styled to express emotions. Set to a simple rhyme, children learn that it is normal to possess a wide spectrum of feelings; anger, sadness, embarrassment, shyness, love. All through anthropomorphic fruits and veggies. Clever, huh?

Authors Joose Elffers and Saxton Freyman have created an entire series worth checking out.

Marian, Crazyhaberdasher, who wrote the wonderful blog feature on Dave on her Spool Knitter Blog, has written a lovely blog feature on me! Marian has been so generous to feature both of our work on her wonderful blogs and we truly appreciate it!

If you collect spool knitters, be sure and check out Marian's book, Spoolknitters, that feature spool knitters from around the world!

I just saw this idea at Apartment Therapy and love it! I've etched some glass before (namely casserole dishes) and know that it's easy enough, but never have I thought of doing glass jars, perhaps I'll even pull out the etching lotion today. I'm inspired..
see directions from Martha here.

Happy Wednesday!

I am up to my armpits in my fabric album from the project kit this month at Studio Calic0, but wanted to pop in really quick.

First I wanted to share my card from Cardalicious 20. The challenge was to make a birthday card using blue, green, and circles.

If you play along this week, there's a prize! Check out the post here for details.

I know I'm a day late, but I also wanted to shout out to this month's winner for my Project 12 challenge:

drum roll please.....

Maria said...

Here's mine! Finally got it photographed. I did two 8x8 pages again.

http://write-now-remember-later.blogspot.com/2009/04/project-12-march-layout.html

I finally cut into some MME papers I had been hoarding for this layout.

6:31 AM
Oh Maria! You are the winner! Email me at cooperdees at yahoo dot com and I'll get that Bittersweet Paper pack and the coordinating stamp set to you! It's all ready to go!

Thank you again to all who play along every month. I'll be posting the challenge again on May first. I do think I'm going to start extending the deadline a little bit... maybe to the 25th.

Have a great Wednesday! Davinie

Deep peace of the
running wave to you.

Deep peace of the
flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the
gentle night to you.

Moon and stars pour
their healing light on you.

Deep peace of the
Light of the World to you.

-A Gaelic Blessing-


Last night I heard of the death of a friend of mine. He and his wife attend the same faith community as me. About eight months ago they learned he had cancer.

It has been a long eight months. And not long enough.

There are no words to express my feelings right now. The loss of his presence, for his wife, their children, and grandchildren, and our group, is simply to sharp to form words on that edge.

You always wonder, how will the family adjust. I don't doubt they will though. The love that is in the universe will support them. And so will we.

My sister in law, is in the hospital today, with problems due to cancer. We are waiting for the results of some tests and the sibs are all flying in, the oldest brother, and two younger sisters. Duncan and I went to meet with her two best friends at the hospital last night. We all talked about what we can do.

The Dr. said he couldn't say how long. It could be soon, or it could be two years.

My prayer for us all right now is Deep Peace, that peace that knows and swallows up sorrow and loss, and fear of loss.

From the NY Times As Colombia’s war for control of the drug trade intensifies...with new combatants vying for smuggling routes and coca-growing areas where Indians eke out a meager existence, it is adding to the already grave toll on the nation’s indigenous...(read more)

My annual state conference in Salem is heading into it's final day today. I'm heading home tonight after the ordination service. It is a privilege to be part of this meeting as many will view this event as a significant moment in their lives - something that they will remember quite clearly all their days.

As I write this morning from the "breakfast room" at my hotel, the television is on ESPN, reviewing an NHL hockey playoff game. Last night one team apparently beat another with a score at .2 seconds left in the game. I'm not a hockey fan and don't even know the teams who played, but I can guess that those players and their hard-core fans will not forget that moment in their lives either.

Looking back over our lives we all have moments like that. We remember weddings, children being born, recitals, sporting events with our kids, vacations, deaths and other key moments where our lives were profoundly touched. These events shape us from the inside out. For example I remember Sunday School at Bonney Lake Chapel, summer camp when I was seven and being baptized in the Holy Spirit at an altar at Calvary Temple. The locations are irrelevant to most readers of this blog, but matter deeply to me as they were integral parts of my Faith Journey Adventure.

What was our last/latest moment(s) that we will keep for a lifetime? What about those moments where we met with God...that will take us past this life?

Oh yes, heaven...will BE HEAVEN!

Look forward to those days ahead that will serve as a springboard for your future. Embrace the good and recall those events often. The bad stuff? Learn from those moments as well...catalog the lessons...and then punt the horrible parts!

I'm so glad that God can take the ashes in our lives and turn them into something beautiful!

El BurritoMy last visit to El Burrito was ok, not great but just ok. So the Wife and a friend that was with me on the last visit, and I went back to El Burrito to give it another try.The chips and salsa arrive at the table immediately and I was happy as I remembered them being quite good. Normally I don't like to complain about a freebee like chips and salsa but these weren't good. The chips were

It's National Turn the TV off week. Are you participating? We were until my husband turned the TV on for the girls this morning.. I had to quickly turn it off and re-explain.. we were almost over the hump. Now not so much.

The Pain of listening to Geithner speak as a paid non economist at the Economics Club is just that PAINFUL. The guy is just shameful as the head of the Treasury. Painful. He’s done, the acting CFO of FRE is found dead just now. Here we go, accidental suicide, sad for family, but again the [...]

 

Kids and parents alike love Bend Oregon.  Thanks to Bend Park and Rec kids have many choices of healthy activities to keep them busy year round.

Juniper Swim & Fitness Center offers swim lessons, snorkeling, fit kids yoga, parent-child-play, busy buddies club, junior lifeguard, family swim, water polo and synchronized swimming. 

Outdoor Adventure Programs include trips for rock climbing, backpacking, camping, canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, rafting, trackers ANW and girls go outside.

Summer day camps include operation recreation, cougar camp, clubhouse, art station programs, theater, martial arts, Spanish camp, chess camp, summer strings, arts, crafts, cooking………..

The list is endless and includes Youth Enrichment programs, Sports, Preschool Recreation and special recreation programs.  Bend is a great place to raise kids.  No wonder families from around the United States are moving to Bend and buying a home.

If you’re considering moving to Bend you should sign up for Jim’s free New Listing Notification Service or call or e-mail today.  Jim Johnson is a Certified Residential Specialist and has been selling quality homes in Bend Oregon since 1981.

 

Call 541-389-4511 or see his web site to search the MLS - Bend Oregon Real Estate.  Jim is licensed by the State of Oregon as the Principal Broker for Bend Oregon Real Estate Expert.  E-MAIL

One of the most amazing pieces of architecture anywhere is the Experience Music Project building that sits right next to the Space Needle. This is one corner of that building. (Click on the thumbnail to get a better sense) Seattle, Washington; April, 2009.

A new trend in wedding photojournalism is gathering steam, and it is called Trash the Dress (or TTD). As preferences of brides and grooms everywhere shift toward a more photojournalistic style, this raw and edgy means of capturing amazing shots is starting to occur more and more.

So what is TTD? Simply put, after all of the wedding photos have been shot, the bride and groom make their way somewhere (could be a body of water, a field, a sports stadium, or up a tree, among others) to get some great images, all the while aware that the dress might get damaged or destroyed. Yes, brides all over the world are choosing to end their wedding photo sessions by wading into rivers, or running into waves as they crash into the beach, to get that one perfect shot and trashing the dress in the process. It is a creative and exciting new facet a broadening and more artistic approach to wedding photography.

To all the wedding photogs out there, we'd like to know- Have you witnessed the trashing of any dresses lately? And if so, how did the images turn out? Let us know by posting a comment on our blog. And if you have some great TTD photos, email them to lindi{at}bigfolio{dot}com and you might even see them up here next week.

 

 

Black and Decker Going Green

Renowned power tool company, Black and Decker, is going green.   Promoting “Earth Day in your Yard,” the company is featuring a number of energy saving tips on its website.

Turns out that you can get much more than lawnmowers and leaf blowers to help green your home.

Among other things, Black and Decker is offering products to cut down on your power bill and save precious energy.  Choose from a thermal leak detector, “lights out” auto-switch and an energy monitor.

The thermal leak detector can locate drafts around windows and doors that can be addressed by weather stripping or caulking.  You can also find areas that could use extra insulation to help you cut down on heating and cooling costs.  For less than $50, your investment should pay for itself in just a few months (if not sooner!).

When you get a power monitor, you’ll be able to pinpoint the energy hogs in your house in real time.  It includes a wireless transmitter that attaches to your meter, and a handheld device that displays information about your energy consumption.  People that install the monitor usually shave 20% off their electricity bills.

The auto-switch for lights allows you to turn off lights all over the house in one location.  It operates automatically (after 15, 30 or 60 minutes), too, if you wish.  A great gadget for my family!

Black and Decker’s Energy Saver Series includes a new tip each day to help you save energy and money.  But the best feature I’ve found at the website is the Interactive House Demonstration.  Enter your state and you can see the average amount you can expect to spend each day on electricity (in Oregon, its almost $7/day!)  When I think about that hard-earned cash going to my utility each and every month, it sure motivates me to find ways to cut back!

Oh, and they also have some pretty cool yard tools that are easy on the environment (as well as your back):

Way to go, Black and Decker!  Thank you for helping us go green, along with you!

Remember how a couple of years ago our city leaders got themselves in a lather over graffiti? Now it seems the big menace to our peace and prosperity is panhandling.

The guys over at 10 Barrel Brewing (formerly Wildfire and primarily served up at JC's) have a neat idea: behind-the-scenes video.

This video is the first in a series that gives a little insight into what we, as a small brewery in Bend, Oregon, go through on a daily basis.

You can view this first video here.

Mark's latest work...
a mix of stained glass & wrought iron
Bye-bye ugly white plastic thermostat cover!
Nifty!

Besides exploring Bocks a bit yesterday, I’ve been giving thought to what sorts of springtime beers have been taking hold (here in America, at least) as a “traditional” spring beer.

Of course, the short answer is “none”; there is no one particular style emerging that fills the role in the way that Bocks have. American brewers brew what strikes their fancy for the season, if they focus on the season at all.

But there are trends. Empirically I would point to a range of beers that are pale-ish (up to red and brown), crisp and refreshing, probably hoppy, but with a bigger malt bill and strength that what you would expect from a summer ale—something that drinks equally well on a hot day as a cool one.

Pretty loose! But then I’m on the West Coast of the U.S., where beer drinkers’ tastes have been spoiled by bold beer with lots of hops. As a point of reference, I would look toward American/Northwest Red Ales like Deschutes Cinder Cone Red (which I’ll have a review of soon), or paler-but-hoppy beers like Sierra Nevada’s ESB (Early Spring Beer).

Bière de Mars is another spring style, a French-Belgian style of beer brewed in (you guessed it) March. I like Jolly Pumpkin’s description which could fit the style pretty well:

A sustaining beer that is brewed to comfort in the gusty ides of March and welcome in a wealth of warmer weather.

Besides Jolly Pumpkin, the best-known examples probably come from New Belgium Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, and Flying Dog. These are robust Bières de Garde that are earthy, spicy, fruity, and complex—perfect beers for cool spring evenings.

But remember what I said about there truly being no particular tradition being adhered to? Take a look at BeerAdvocate’s Top Spring Seasonals to really bring this home. Dark Lord Imperial Stout? Live Oak Hefeweizen? Melt Down Double IPA? All I can say is, “Wow.”